Sleep is an irreplaceable process that serves a vital role in sustaining and supporting the health of humans. Quality of sleep has been linked to a diverse range of bodily functions and processes including cognition, communication, emotion regulation, hormone regulation, memory, and neuroplasticity. When sleep is disrupted, several short- and long-term consequences (e.g., cognitive, affective, social, behavioral, and physical health) can ensue (for an overview, see Table 1). Although common across a person’s lifespan and potentially costly in terms of wellness, sleep problems often go unrecognized and underdiagnosed. The failure to identify, treat, and manage sleep problems can undermine one’s quality of life and exacerbate a host of public safety concerns.

The criminal justice system is one area where the consequences of sleep problems can be grave. Suspects, witnesses, and defendants who are sleep deprived may be at a significant disadvantage compared to well-rested individuals. Despite these concerns, individuals who come into contact with the criminal justice system are still likely to be interviewed when sleep deprived. As such, it is imperative that professionals who work in these settings understand the causes (for an overview, see Table 2) and consequences of sleep disturbances on the people they interview. Serving as an introduction into advanced education and training, this article presents an overview of sleep disturbances and its implications for criminal justice–involved populations.

Sleep Deprivation: Important Reminders for Interviewers

This section presents several important reminders that all interviewers need to consider when interviewing suspects, witnesses, and defendants with sleep deprivation.

Sleep disturbances and false confessions. A false confession occurs when a person confesses guilt for a crime despite his or her innocence. The likelihood of false confessions may be increased by sleep problems and disturbances. As such, professionals should treat any confession with caution and skepticism when the confessor exhibits symptoms of sleep deprivation. Some experts even recommend not interviewing people with sleep deprivation until they are well-rested. Beyond sleep disturbances, other factors that increase the risk of false confessions could include cognitive deficits (e.g., intellectual), developmental immaturity, memory issues (e.g., confabulation and suggestibility), psychiatric problems (e.g., anxiety), social tendencies (e.g., naivete and compliance), and substance use issues.

Sleep disturbances and suggestibility. Suggestibility is a proneness to adopt the thoughts or ideas of another person as one’s own. The likelihood of this phenomenon can increase when a person is deprived of sleep. Further, subjection to stressful situations (e.g., interrogations) that are often characterized by repetitive, leading, and demanding questions over an extended period of time can also increase the risk of suggestibility.

Sleep disturbances and misleading questions. Within the context of criminal justice interviews, suggestive interviewing practices like misleading questions can cause confusion and elicit affirmative responses from the interviewee. This tendency may be even more likely when the interviewee is experiencing sleep deprivation rather than well-rested. Other suggestive interview practices could include interviewer bias, emphasis of the interviewer’s authority, leading and repeated questions, selective rewards and punishments, social pressure, and stereotypes.

Sleep disturbances and the misinformation effect. The misinformation effect occurs when a person confuses information learned after an event with his or her original memory of the event. This can result in a person fundamentally altering his or her memory of the actual event. Sleep deprivation when witnessing the original event or during interviews about the original event may increase the risk of the misinformation effect.

Sleep disturbances and credulity. Credulity is the proneness to accept questionable information as fact. For instance, an interviewee’s credulity could result in them believing something asserted by an interviewer in the absence of evidence. Individuals with sleep deprivation could be more at risk of credulity than those well-rested.

Sleep disturbances and false memories. False memories are created by merging together portions of real or original memories with other information drawn from either internal (e.g., other memories) or external (e.g., other people) sources. Because sleep plays a critical role in memory consolidation, sleep deprivation may increase the risk of false memories. When resulting in false confessions or inaccurate eyewitness testimony, false memories have the potential to influence miscarriages of justice like wrongful convictions.

Sleep disturbances, absorption, and fantasy proneness. Absorption is a trait characterized by a tendency to become enthralled in fantasy and mental imagery. Some may liken this to daydreaming or possessing an overactive imagination. Regardless, research has found that absorption and fantasy proneness are significantly correlated with sleep disturbances.

Sleep disturbances and cognitive skill impairments. Sleep deprivation is associated with a decline in cognitive skills. The effects can include attentional problems, emotion dysregulation, information-processing difficulties, forgetfulness, impulsivity, and poor decision-making and problem-solving. All of these issues undermine a person’s ability to function effectively during criminal justice interviews.

Sleep disturbances and processing speed. The amount of time that a person needs to perform a specific task is his or her processing speed. The presence of sleep disturbances like sleep apnea and insomnia has negative effects on the speed of different forms of processing including verbal (e.g., language), nonverbal (e.g., written language), and physical movement. That is, individuals with sleep disturbances typically demonstrate slower processing speeds than those without sleep disturbances. There are several factors that could influence a person’s processing speed (see Table 3).

Sleep disturbances, language processing, and communication problems. Cognitive functions in the areas of language and communication play a critical role in a person’s ability to function in everyday situations at home, school, and work. Emerging research suggests that sleep is imperative in the emergence, development, and refinement of language and communication abilities. Problems in these areas can negatively affect an interviewee’s ability to effectively understand, process, and respond to questions during the interview process.

Sleep disturbances and social skill deficits. The presence of sleep disturbances can undermine a person’s social skills in several different areas (for an overview, see Table 4). These should be carefully considered by professionals when conducting criminal justice interviews.

Sleep disturbances and behavioral unpredictability. Sleep disturbances could confer an elevated risk for behavioral unpredictability during interviews. For instance, sleep deprivation is associated with feelings of anger and anxiety along with exaggerated responses to stress. These responses could manifest as social withdrawal and avoidance or more erratic responses.

Sleep disturbances and self-regulatory behavioral problems. Self-regulation of one’s behaviors becomes increasingly difficult when experiencing sleep deprivation. As such, interviewees with sleep deprivation experience issues with several different aspects of self-regulation such as physical outbursts and reactions, emotion regulation, impulsivity, performing self-directed behaviors, processing information, and self-reflection.

Sleep disturbances and risk-taking behaviors. Sleep problems may increase the likelihood of risk-taking behaviors. Such behaviors can be extremely problematic during the criminal justice interview process. For instance, interviewees with sleep disturbances could be more likely to suffer from poor decision-making and deficiencies in reasoning and attention. As such, professionals are encouraged to consider examining the presence of sleep disturbances through a risk-taking lens. Potential warning flags include a history of risky behaviors (e.g., sexual, financial, and social), sensation seeking (e.g., extreme sports and driving), substance abuse, and traumatic brain injuries.

Sleep disturbances and alexithymia. Alexithymia is characterized by difficulties with processing, understanding, recognizing, and feeling emotions. Some research studies have observed associations between alexithymia and sleep disturbances like insomnia. Researchers posit that sleep deprivation could cause deficits in emotional intelligence, which conceptually overlaps with alexithymia.

Sleep disturbances and unethical behavior. Subjection to sleep deprivation has been linked to the deterioration of moral awareness. As such, interviewees experiencing sleep deprivation could be prone to unethical behavior(s) that they may not have considered if well-rested. These actions against the norms of society could take diverse forms and may be traced to the prefrontal cortex. This region of the brain plays an important role in the self-regulation of behavior.

Sleep disturbances and distortions of risk analyses. Individuals with sleep deprivation are disproportionately likely to prioritize decisions emphasizing immediate payoffs regardless of the risks involved. This insensitivity to the costs of a decision is referred to as a distortion in risk analyses. When well-rested, these same individuals may very well carefully consider the consequences of their decisions and choose a different pathway.

Sleep disturbances and reduced error awareness. Sleep disturbances could contribute to reductions in error awareness. That is, individuals with sleep disturbances may be more prone to careless mistakes. This is particularly dangerous in situations rife with consequences like criminal justice interviews. To protect against miscarriages of justice, professionals should carefully consider the presence of sleep deprivation along with several other factors including attentional control, situational awareness, substance abuse, and traumatic brain injuries.

Sleep disturbances and rumination. Rumination refers to deep and repetitive negative thoughts. A consequence of rumination could be poor sleep quality and sleep disturbances like insomnia. Beyond sleep quality, rumination can have wide-ranging consequences including anxiety, depression, relationship problems, and stress. Professionals should consider the topic of rumination and should be alert to its signs and symptoms during the interviewing process.

Sleep disturbances and digestive health issues. Sleep disturbances can negatively impact digestive health. In turn, these digestive problems can contribute to depression, mood swings, anxiety, and cognitive problems. Professionals are strongly encouraged to learn about the gut-brain health connection along with the impacts of poor digestive health on behavioral, emotional, and social functioning.

Sleep disturbances and internalizing symptoms. Individuals with sleep deprivation may experience an increase in internalizing symptoms. Examples include anxiousness, fear, irritability, loneliness, nervousness, physical discomfort, sadness, self-consciousness, and social withdrawal. These symptoms may be difficult to detect through external observation, but they can significantly impact the interviewee’s mood and behaviors during the interviewing process.

Sleep disturbances, anger, and aggression. The experience of sleep deprivation could increase the risk of anger and aggression. Professionals should carefully weigh several different considerations should an interviewee exhibit either anger or aggression. These include the presence of digestive health, executive function, impulsivity, mental health, substance use, and trauma problems.

Conclusion

As highlighted in this brief article, sleep deprivation can have devastating consequences on individuals being subjected to criminal justice interviews. If sleep deprivation goes unrecognized and unaddressed, there is an inherent danger for miscarriages of justice such as false confessions and wrongful convictions. Professionals should keep in mind these diverse yet important tips and reminders about the consequences of sleep deprivation in criminal justice interviews (for an overview, see Table 5). Such an approach has the potential to improve criminal justice outcomes for victims, witnesses, and offenders. 🛡

Read the next article in the series.

Please cite as

Jerrod Brown, “Interview Considerations—Sleep Deprivation: A Beginner’s Guide for Criminal Justice Professionals,” Police Chief Online, September 7, 2022.